Hope QB Michael Atwell eyes big season, med school

August 24, 2013

Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

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Michael Atwell

Meet Michael Atwell

Who: Hope senior quarterback. Vitals: 6-0, 200. Hometown: Geneseo, Ill. Notable: Atwell threw for a league-high 2,254 yards and 18 touchdowns in 10 games last season. He made second team All-MIAA. He’s 77 yards from being the sixth 4,000-yard passer in Hope history.

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Hope football coach Dean Kreps has great faith in his quarterback.

“I’ll let him operate on me someday,” Kreps said of senior Michael Atwell.

“He’ll be in medical school somewhere next fall.”

Before that happens, Kreps and Atwell have big plans for the upcoming season.

Hope returns 20 of 24 players from a team that finished 5-5 last season and 4-2 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

“We got through and we got some wins, but we want to be a more dominant team like we used to be,” Kreps said. “I think this group can do it.”

The Flying Dutchmen had the MIAA’s top scoring offense, which averaged 28.1 points per game. They also were the only offense that averaged more than 200 passing yards per game (237.2).

Hope expects to be at the top of the league on offense again because of Atwell.

As a sophomore, Atwell completed 51.2% of his passes (129 for 252) for 1,628 yards with six touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Last season, Atwell completed 53.3% of his passes (177 for 332) for 2,254 yards with 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

“He was light years forward from where he was a sophomore,” Kreps said of Atwell’s progress.

“He’s as good a play-action guy as we’ve ever had here. … We just try to find things that he can access at. His quick passing game is pretty good, and he’s getting better at the deep balls, too. We have a pretty good group of receivers to throw to as well.”

Atwell came to Hope from Geneseo, Ill., which he described as a very small town.

“I think I want to be a surgeon and work in a smaller town,” Atwell said of his long-term goals. “I love the small town life. My uncle was a surgeon in a small town.”

Atwell said Holland is a much bigger than his hometown but has “a nice community feel.”

Atwell said he came to Hope because he wanted to study chemistry and biology, while continuing to play football for a few more seasons.

It’s been a perfect fit. He said the coaching staff allows him to devote time to research and classwork, something he wasn’t sure could happen at higher levels of college football.

Atwell said he doesn’t spend endless hours in the weight room or watching film.

Kreps said Atwell downplays just how much he puts into the program, though.

“He’s grown into a man in his four years here,” Kreps said. “He’s more physical than he was, a much stronger arm. I always say with those skill guys, you don’t have to be strong enough to bench press a car, but you gotta be strong enough to take care of your body, take a pounding. It’s still college football and that’s 10 games. You’re going to get hit some. That’s what he’s been able to do.”

It won’t take long for Hope to find out if it can compete for a league title this season. It opens the season Sept. 7 at North Park (Ill.), the first of three nonconference games.